ρoιѕoиed scутнe
by Goldenwing is Loki'd
Summary: Minkpaw loves being the medicine cat's apprentice, but she is horrid at it. She was supposed to heal, not kill...


"MOTHER! Mother, mother, mother. Guess what?" a little chocolate she-kit tumbled into the nursery. She yelped a bramble tendril protecting the nursery caught on her messy fur, but she scowled as she tugged furiously on it, letting the bramble go and nearly slapping Rosekit, behind her.

"Oh, are you all right, Minkkit?" Sedgetail putted. To be frank, though, she wasn't very surprised; she loved her only kit very much, yet she wouldn't stop getting into little mishaps.

"We've been running around the camp," she said as if her mother didn't say anything, "and we went into the medicine den. Isn't that great? I even got to help. It was so cool! It made _Owlclaw_ all better!"

"Wow, that's amazing, Minkkit!" Sedgetail exclaimed. Owlclaw was the Clan deputy.

"It was so much fun. And it smelled really good," she added.

"Nah, it smelled like death." Emberkit smirked, padding into the nursery. She and Minkkit weren't exactly close friends, but they liked each other and played around in the nursery along with a younger litter (Redkit, Dawnkit, Rosekit). The younger cats followed Emberkit and Minkkit everywhere.

Minkkit snorted and started to climb up Sedgetail's back. She slipped off immediately, resorting in a few snickers from Emberkit. But Minkkit didn't seem to mind, purring. "But mother, mother, guess what?"

"Yes, Minkkit?" she turned around to see her. Redkit was giggling and starting to climb up her back, too.

"Wait for it..." Minkkit drew up a dramatic pause. In the pause, she tripped and fell on the nest they were in. She was always one for such flair. "I want to become a medicine cat!"

The den washed over in an impressive silence. Minkkit was grinning proudly. Redkit shuffled around nervously. The shock couldn't be more effective, and apparently, Emberkit was taken aback, too. "What?" the tortoiseshell she-kit said blankly.

"Oh... Are you sure, Minkkit? You've been wanting to become a warrior your entire life! What changed?" Sedgetail said gently, trying to ease back her senses. Minkkit was a rambunctious little thing, always changing her mind every few heartbeats. She was just a kit. ( _Who is to be an apprentice in quarter moon's time..._ ) Anyway, how about the rest of her six moons' time? She never seemed interested in the medicine den.

"I never went in the medicine den before! Bluebreeze never let me," she explained a little stubbornly. That was a fair argument. Meanwhile, Emberkit went outside, herding Redkit, Dawnkit, and Rosekit along with her. "I better tell Rainkit this," Sedgetail thought she heard her mutter. Rainkit was her quiet brother.

"Yes, but you can't do two roles at once," she replied a little warningly.

"I know I can't, I know," Minkkit said hastily. "But it just seems so much fun! There are different things to do everyday. No one has the same injuries. Hunting is the same. Fighting is the same. There aren't battles everyday. And running along on the battlefield seems fun. And you get to do something useful to the entire Clan."

Normally Sedgetail would be impressed that Minkkit could speech without losing her concentration. But this meant that this was one of the few times she was actually serious about something. "The life of a warrior is very diverse, too. And you'll miss out on so much."

"Are you discouraging me?" Minkkit demanded. Sedgetail blinked, her eyes suddenly narrowing. Since when did she get this new attitude?

"There are things to consider. How about a mate and kits? And over the course of one day?"

"I don't like toms that way," Minkkit scoffed. "I want to do it."

Sedgetail stared at her daughter. She _really_ wasn't joking... Every heartbeat that went past, the less likely she thought Minkkit would just jump up, say she was just kidding, and purr. "You can become medicine cat if you want. Just... make sure you don't do anything you would regret." _Ahh, the nostalgia... Wisps and flashes of her difficult apprenticeship... Secrets..._

"I won't," Minkkit said smugly.

* * *

She went to the medicine den every day afterwards. She still spent a similar amount of time with her playmates, but still, they drifted apart. Perhaps it was because of the different paths they were to take.

One time Sedgetail was invited to one of their sessions. It seemed to be a regular thing for Minkkit to misplace an herb or slip.

"I'm sorry, Bluebreeze, if she ever is too much of a pawful, I'll take care of her," she whispered to the medicine cat once.

"No, it's fine, I was a lot worse than this," Bluebreeze purred. Always a sweet cat, she was. But Sedgetail didn't remember Bluepaw being anyway clumsy.

"Thanks, Bluebreeze, you're the best."

Meanwhile, in the few short days of Minkkit becoming an apprentice, word spread about the path she chose to take. They knew about her, er, ungainliness, though they all passed it off as kithood. Her father was Shadetooth, a respected member of the Clan. He was reluctant to accept it, but by the time the ceremony came, he full-on accepted it.

* * *

"MINKPAW! MINKPAW! MINKPAW!" Her name bounded in echoes throughout the ShadowClan camp, and Minkpaw purred in pleasure. She didn't realize she was shaking the entire Greatbranch until Mottlestar shushed her.

He wonders if Minkpaw's enthusiasm will still be intact after her accidental murders.


End file.
